Roger Donaldson

Having proved himself to be a capable craftsman of several compelling political thrillers, director Roger Donaldson hit a downward spiral in his career after emerging from his native New Zealand as it...
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WENN/Nikki Nelson
With such a hostile political climate existing beyond the scope of cinema, it takes a good deal of skill to keep the spy genre of today feeling exciting, original, and up-to-date. Director Roger Donaldson aims for this with The November Man, a film that draws from the best traditions of the genre — packing twists an employing none other than James Bond, Pierce Brosnan, to play the lead role — and employs new devices as well (this might be the first film we ever saw to use drone technology to catch a criminal). We chatted with Donaldson about the state of the genre, what role it plays in contemporary pop culture, and how films like November Man reach beyond the screen to contribute to the political scope.
Roger Donaldson: I’ve done a few films in the genre. I did No Way Out many years ago, I did The Recruit with Al Pacino and Colin Farrell. I think what I love about making these sort of films, as well as seeing them, is the suspense. I'm intrigued by characters [pretending to be] somebody other than they really are ... Espionage is very much a part of our world, the real world.
Where does the real world meet the world of the spy genre?
RD: I think the two are sort of intertwined. I was definitely intrigued by the idea of shooting this film in Serbia. Serbia having been at the crossroads of history, monumental moments of history, for many years. You know, the Ottoman Empire up against the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Now the influences of Russia South, various parts of Europe moving towards the East. Turkish influences. Muslims moving up from Albania, Turkey. It’s still right at the crosshairs of international politics as part of the world.
And yet I was sort of appalled at how ignorant I was about Serbia and Belgrade, having not been there. I’ve been to Croatia before, but my knowledge sort of came out of reporting that happened around the war 10 or 15 years ago. The reality now is very different. They’ve moved on, Croatia is now in the EU. Serbia will soon be, probably. There are still those underlying currents that are still working their way — Hungary is up against Serbia, and Austria, and Slovenia… so it’s still a fascinating part of the world.
Do these kinds of movies work to teach us anything about our political climate?
RD: Well, I think political thrillers often have a sense of irony, and they’re a little cynical about the goings on of how countries and interact with another. When we made this film, it was a year ago. Just in that last year, the geopolitical events that have been happening… while this movie is not ... 100 percent [reality, it] speaks to the monumental changes that are always ongoing in the world of politics.
Relativity Media via Everett Collection
Speaking of real world advancements, this might be the first movie I have ever seen to use drones.
RD: I know. As a matter of fact, when we decided to put drones into the film, it was stuff that wasn’t quite like it is right now. I anticipated, I guess, that this sort of technology was going to become more and more important. Both in filmmaking and in [politics]. That’s one of the reasons I put it in the film; I thought it was technology that we’d see more and more of.
That’s the challenge of making films about what’s happening right now. The technology is such a part of a spy story, one has to try and embrace it. You know that the technology is probably ahead of where we are already. Now, when I did No Way Out, we talked about a stealth submarine. That was just pure fiction that came out of writing the script. Some time later I was talking to somebody who was in the know, and he was like, ‘How did you know about this stealth submarine?’ Well… we didn’t! We just assumed that there would be that sort of technology and development, and that you’d try and keep things a secret. One tries to guess, sometimes, what’s out there, and sometimes when you think of the need, what technology could provide, you put it into the story… and suddenly, it does exist, because there is that need for it ... There was a period of time when military would talk to filmmakers and say, “Hey, what bright ideas have you got that could become of interest to us?”
You mentioned earlier your love of twists. Is it difficult to pull off movie twists when audiences are so savvy now, and are always expecting them?
RD: It is a challenge to surprise. When [people] sit down to watch a movie like this, they know there are twists in the story, and they know that twists can only come from characters that are in front of them. So they start to try and put together the scenarios of who’s going to do what to whom. So it’s a challenge as a filmmaker to keep the audience guessing, and part of the pleasure of watching a film like this is trying to be ahead of the story. “I know where it’s going to go,” and when it doesn’t go there that’s always a feeling of satisfaction from the audience, like, “I didn’t see that coming!” And yet, you also try to do it with logic, so that when it does happen, they don’t go, “Well, that was a load of bulls**t, wasn’t it?” It’s got to make sense as well as surprise them. How do you surprise the audience, how do you entertain them? And how do you, at the very end of a movie, keep it going right through?
Was there ever a twist that didn't work out for you?
RD: There was a twist in [No Way Out], after I had made the film, a studio executive said, “If you didn’t have that twist on the end I think you would have done more business.” And I was like, “But I wouldn’t have made the film!” That twist was what I was attracted to about doing the film. Maybe he just felt like it just didn’t need that extra twist on the end. But for me, that was the pleasure of that whole film. It surprised right up to the end.
Did you ever worry that a Pierce Brosnan spy thriller would suffer from the shadow of Bond?
RD: I hope it doesn’t. To me, this film has nothing to do with Bond. Pierce has real star attraction. I think there’s a side to Pierce that hasn’t been exposed in his work, and I think this film shows what an interesting, complicated character he can pull off onscreen. That was the appeal to me about working with him on this movie. Of course, that's why he's a star. Bond's one of those movies [that made him a star], and he was a spy in that movie. But the truth is, this is a very different sort of spy movie to a Bond movie.
He's playing a character who's got sort of a dark side to him, too. He's been through hell and seen all sorts of things. That sort of cynicism comes to the forefront. In the scene where he's confronting the [character] that he's got hostage, that's a very demanding scene to do as an actor. I think that scene really helps the movie [become such that] you don't really know where the movie's going to go.
The November Man is in theaters now.
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Relativity Media via Everett Collection
We pick up with Peter Devereaux five years after the incident that convinced him to leave the CIA (the accidental killing of an innocent boy), and with Pierce Brosnan 12 years after the tragic incident that convinced him to leave MI6 (Die Another Day). As is necessarily the case with any former lawman we meet in the first act of a movie, retirement doesn’t last long, and Brosnan’s Devereaux is roped hastily into the agency’s plan to take out a Serbian crime lord.
The “Every time I think I’m out…” turn of fate isn’t the only familiar trait that you’ll find in The November Man. It’s astounding that a movie leaning on contemporary politics and what has got to be one of the first cinematic uses of government drones feels as worn and unoriginal as Roger Donaldson’s spy thriller does.
Relativity Media via Everett Collection
Jumping jaggedly along from one action set piece to the next, November Man stocks up on a multitude of would-be visceral punches. Betrayals, emotional reveals, and twists upon twists go effectively nowhere as we zoom between hollow characters whose personal makeup is never illustrated beyond tearful close-ups or biographical exposition.
Even without proper characters or cohesive themes, The November Man does manage to keep its energy up. Here and there, we’re allowed genuine interest in the multi-tiered conspiracy theory surrounding the criminals and the agents, or in the adequately delivered action. On occasion, Brosnan takes a dip in the weirder side of the emotional spectrum, enlivening his principally dormant hero Devereaux.
Ultimately, what we get in November Man is unremarkable: spiting drones, Bond-lite revivals, and close-to-home war crimes alike — all delivered capably and painlessly, no less — the film doesn’t show us anything we haven’t seen — and forgotten — time and time again.
2/5
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Pierce Brosnan is returning to the spy game for a new thriller - and he's teaming up with Bond girl Olga Kurylenko for his new mission. November Man has been adapted from a book of the same name, which Brosnan and his production company partners have snapped up the rights for.
Brosnan, who turns 60 next month (May13), tells WENN, "I'm about to go off to Serbia and do my own spy movie. Finally I have the director I want in Roger Donaldson and we're gonna do a piece called November Man so I shall jump back into that arena.
"I think there's another room on the stage for another spy! Daniel (Craig) can't have it all to himself. My co-star is a lovely actress called Olga Kurylenko, who seems to be going through leading men like hot dinners. She started with Daniel Craig and she's gonna end up with Brosnan! She's a gorgeous actress, beautiful woman. She's in and it's the older spy, younger spy."

The Irish actor has been working on action thriller November Man for years and now the project is a go.
Roger Donaldson, who worked with Brosnan on disaster movie Dante's Peak, will direct.
Thrilled Brosnan says, "November Man has been a labour of love for both me and my (production) company. I'm looking forward to reuniting with both Roger and Dominic as we prepare to make a great film."
November Man will be adapted from Bill Granger's spy novel There are No Spies and tells the story of an ex-CIA operative brought back to tackle a gifted former pupil.
The film is scheduled to start shooting in October (12) in Berlin, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Orlando Bloom and Kirsten Dunst have signed up for the indie thriller Cities, alongside Clive Owen and Anil Kapoor.
Roger Donaldson (The Bank Job, Cocktail, et al.) is on board to direct the film, about intertwining stories of greed -- as it pertains specifically to the Dow Jones' all-time high -- and the consequences thereof.
Dunst is coming off the critical success of Lars von Trier's Melancholia, while Bloom is still recovering from the dud that was last week's The Three Musketeers. The two appeared on screen together in Cameron Crowe's 2005 dramedy Elizabethtown.
Source: Deadline
Click on the image below to see more photos of Orlando Bloom!

So Clive Owen has agreed to star in Cities with Slumdog Millionaire star Anil Kapoor. Roger Donaldson will direct the film that he co-wrote, which is being described as a “financial thriller” that chronicles several peoples lives in the days leading up to the all-time Dow Jones high and the repercussions they face from gambling their money. Because everyone knows watching huge piles of electronic money go up and down is seriously thrilling. But these people have something at stake! They shouldn’t have put their entire life savings into one of the most complicated systems ever created that most still doesn’t understand well enough to not cause a crash of the entire global economy. Actually, that does sound kind of thrilling. We’ve already created SkyNet and it rose 1400 points today.
Source: ComingSoon

The average actor earns peanuts compared to what the following group of Hollywood hot shots make, though their bloated salaries are not just handouts. Each and every person on the list below got where they are because of dedication to and love of their craft. Sure, luck plays an integral part, but without the drive to succeed they’d all be yesterdays news instead of next years busiest entertainers. Read on to see who you’ll be seeing a lot of in 2011.
*Note: This list is comprehensive, but not necessarily "complete" as there are many working actors in the business who have just as many, if not more, films in production. The individuals were selected because of their status in current pop-culture and the size of the films in which they appear. That is why someone like Ray Wise, who has 10 films in various stages of production, was excluded while others with less were included.*
Seth Rogen
Had I made this list last year, or the year before that, Rogen probably would’ve found himself on it. Since becoming a household name in 2007 with Knocked Up and Superbad (among others), the funny man has had more work than he knows what to do with. He starts 2011 with the eagerly awaited release of his 3D superhero flick The Green Hornet, but his cancer dramedy Live With It could hit the festival circuit around the same time. March will see his long-gestating collaboration with Simon Pegg/Nick Frost Paul hit theaters (in which he voices an adorable alien) followed by the May release of Kung Fu Panda 2. Somewhere in the middle of that will be another dramedy, Take This Waltz, in which he co-stars with Sarah Silverman and Michelle Williams. Add that up and Rogen’s got a very lucrative year ahead of him.
Emma Stone
Stone is poised to become the starlet of tomorrow with a leading role in Sony’s new Spider Man film, but that’s a ways off. Next year will see her build momentum towards that coming blockbuster with four releases, including a role in Relativity Media’s massive untitled ensemble comedy (which may now be titled Movie 43) and a reunion with her Easy A director Will Gluck in the Mila Kunis/Justin Timberlake rom-com Friends With Benefits. However, what I’m looking forward to most is The Help, an adaptation of Kathryn Stockett’s beloved novel in which she plays a leading role and Crazy, Stupid, Love, the new dramedy from I Love You Phillip Morris directors Glenn Ficarra and John Requa in which she plays daughter to Steve Carell. There’s enough quality here to ensure that Stone becomes a major player in her own right in the new decade and I can’t wait to see what she does with all that star power in the coming years.
Steven Spielberg
The king of all media is back in full force next year, bringing no less than seven major motion pictures to global audiences in addition to one eagerly awaited new network TV show (Terra Nova – due May 2011). First up is the D.J. Caruso-helmed sci-fi actioner I Am Number Four followed by J.J. Abrams’ homage to the famed filmmaker’s early work with Super 8 (Spielberg serves as executive producer on both). The huge summer season continues with Transformers: Dark of the Moon and the very buzzy Cowboys &amp; Aliens before he unveils the Shawn Levy-directed robot boxing drama Real Steel. Then, around Christmastime, we’ll get a double dose of his directorial efforts with the WWI epic War Horse and the motion captured franchise starter The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn. That is the mark of a true mogul – releasing a pair of big films just days apart. Small potatoes for Mr. Spielberg, of course.
Johnny Depp
Captain Jack attacks the world of entertainment on all fronts next year as actor, producer and director. He’ll be seen in two films, including the long-delayed The Rum Diary and Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, and heard in a third – Gore Verbinski’s animated Rango. He serves as producer on Martin Scorsese’s 3D live action Hugo Cabret and a foreign film called Cool Water (which may or may not end up shooting early next year). Additionally, he should finally release his untitled Keith Richards documentary, which has been in post-production for a long time now. It’s one of the most diverse schedules that anyone in the business can boast next year and I’m very excited to see how it all turns out for EW’s most recent Entertainer of the Decade.
Daniel Craig
Like Ms. Stone’s upcoming slate of films, Craig’s is comprised of higher quality than quantity. After a lengthy absence from the silver screen, the British bad ass releases four big movies from four big directors. He starts his domination of the second half of 2011 with Jon Favreau’s Cowboys and Aliens and segues into Jim Sheridan’s new thriller Dream House. After that, he’ll release back to back December blockbusters with the fore mentioned Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn and the mega-hyped English language adaptation of Stieg Larsson’s The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo. All together, Craig is looking at an easy billion-dollar year before he begins work on his third Bond film, due in 2012.
Ryan Kavanaugh
As I was compiling this list I realized that I wasn’t showing enough love to the producers that make filmmaking possible. There are hundreds of financiers and producers out there making movies, but none is quite as prolific today (and tomorrow) as Ryan Kavanaugh. The CEO of Relativity Media puts out a number of titles next year, some of which I’ve already mentioned (including that huge ensemble comedy, Cowboys and Aliens and Rogen’s Live With It). Additionally, he releases Neil Burger’s Limitless (formerly titled The Dark Fields), the James Cameron-produced Sanctum, Steven Soderbergh’s Haywire and Tarsem Singh’s Immortals. He’ll also be active in the realm of production as his company gears up for principle photography on The Town That Dreaded Sundown and The Crow remake. Like most big companies, Relativity could easily acquire a number of films for distribution throughout the year, which would just add to its already stellar slate in 2011.
Channing Tatum
The “It” Boy of the new decade is ready to take Hollywood by storm (again) next year. He’ll first appear in Ron Howard’s relationship comedy The Dilemma on January 14th before hitting Sundance in his third collaboration with director Dito Montiel with Son of No One. In February, his long delayed swords-and-sandals actioner The Eagle opens, while April will see Haywire finally blast its way into theaters. Tatum will only take very short breaks to promote these films as he’ll be working on a variety of projects including the ensemble drama Ten Year, the period espionage thriller Love and Honor and Sony’s 21 Jump Street reboot, ensuring that his It Boy status will remain intact for many years to come.
David Koechner
Here’s a guy that you wouldn’t think would end up on a list like this, but Koechner’s comedic abilities have made him a must have for productions big and small. The major studio’s called upon him for films like Paul, Final Destination 5 and This Means War (all set to bow in 2011) in addition to indies like Wish Wizard, Wedding Day and Fully Loaded, in which he apparently plays himself. It’s a big moment for the comedian, so I hope he and his fans drink it in.
Ron Perlman
The Sons Of Anarchy star gets his big-screen due next year with a whopping six (possibly seven) releases. He invades the first frame of 2011 with Season of the Witch and will play father to the Barbarian in Lionsgate’s Conan reboot in August. A number of other independent and studio releases will drop throughout the year as well, including Nicolas Winding Refn’s Drive, the dramatic thriller Crave and a film called Frankie Goes Boom that will reunite him with his SoA co-star Charlie Hunnam (Chris Noth, Lizzy Caplan and Whitney Cummings co-star). Perlman also joins Universal’s Mummy/Scorpion King franchise with the direct to DVD Scorpion King: Rise of the Dead. If it begins production on time, he could also release the action thriller The Riot, which presents a practical take on the survival horror genre. Factor in the tentative summer start of his old friend Guillermo del Toro’s At the Mountains of Madness (in which he plays Larson) and Perlman, at 60, is busier than ever.
Nicolas Cage
In between financial and psychological meltdowns Nicolas Cage manages to get some work done. The Oscar winning A-lister will appear in a quartet of films next year, starting with Season of the Witch and continuing on with Roger Donaldson’s The Hungry Rabbit Jumps, Patrick Lussier’s Drive Angry 3D and Joel Schumacher’s Trespass. In addition, he produced the family comedy A Thousand Words, which was developed as a starring vehicle but was passed off to Eddie Murphy shortly before production began in 2008. He’ll continue to shoot his Ghost Rider sequel through the first quarter of 2011 and may end up filming a third National Treasure at some point as well.
Michael Fassbender
He’s made a name for himself in films like 300 and Inglourious Basterds but Fassbender has yet to really breakout. Next year, he should do just that with four films locked and a handful of others gearing up for production. First is Cary Fukunaga’s adaptation of Charlotte Bronte’s literary staple Jane Eyre followed soon after by Steven Soderbergh’s Haywire. On June 3rd, he joins the X-Men franchise as a young Erik Lensherr/Magneto in X-Men: First Class, which could turn into a career-within-a-career in itself. Additionally, David Cronenberg’s highly anticipated A Dangerous Method should hit the festival circuit at some point in 2011, possibly leading to awards buzz. If you don’t think that is enough of a schedule to balance, try to figure out when/how he’ll shoot two new dramas (Brendan Gleeson’s At Swim-Two-Birds and Steve McQueen’s Shame) amidst all that promotional work? Staggering, isn’t it.

F. Gary Gray is reportedly in talks with Nu Image/Millennium Films to direct Kane and Lynch, a video game adaptation to star Bruce Willis and Jamie Foxx. No official offer has yet been made to the director of such hit-and-miss fare as Friday (hit), The Italian Job (hit), and Be Cool (miss), but Gray is considered to be at the top of Millennium's shortlist for the project, which also reportedly includes Wayne Kramer (The Cooler) and Roger Donaldson (The Bank Job).
Lionsgate is set to distribute the adaptation, which follows Adam "Kane" Marcus (Willis), a death row inmate who is sprung from prison by his former team of mercenaries, who then threaten to execute his kidnapped wife and daughter if he doesn't retrieve a stolen treasure for them. As he travels from Los Angeles to Japan and Cuba, Kane must eventually join forces with Lynch (Foxx), a sociopathic killer also involved in the escape, who has been recruited by the mercenary team to keep an eye on Kane.
It will be interesting to see what the studio and the more-than-capable F. Gary Gray are able to do with the Kane and Lynch source material; I don't know that the video game's rather linear plot line will lend itself to a particularly engaging movie, although this would not be the first time we've been sold mindless violence as entertainment. Regardless, Heat Vision reports that Kane and Lynch is a "top priority" for Millennium - producers Daniel Alter, Adrian Askarieh, and Bruce and brother David Willis acted quickly to find a replacement director when stunt coordinator Simon Crane walked away from directing the project in May due to creative differences.
Filming is set to begin this summer, with an expected release date in 2011.
Source: Hollywood Reporter

During two terrifying weeks in 1962 the discovery of Russian nukes in Cuba triggers a series of confused responses from the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. that bring the world to the brink of Armageddon. Fiercely loyal White House aide Kenneth O'Donnell (Kevin Costner) finds himself in the center of the storm alongside President John F. Kennedy (Bruce Greenwood) and Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy (Steven Culp). Under the most crushing pressure imaginable can this heroic trio find the right diplomatic formula to keep itchy fingers off the button?
Costner turns in the sort of assured Everyman performance that made him a star grounding the myth-shrouded subject matter in an accessible human reality. No less important to the piece is some soulful Kennedy impersonating from the charismatic Greenwood ("Double Jeopardy") and Culp the latter such an uncanny ringer for RFK that he was previously tapped to play the crusading attorney general in the telefilm "Norma Jean and Marilyn."
Reunited with Costner star of his now-classic 1987 thriller "No Way Out " Roger Donaldson shoots for maximum tension by focusing on twists in the behind-the-scenes political maneuvering rather than the broader drama playing out on the nation's TV screens. Considering the audience knows the ending going in (no we didn't have a nuclear war in the '60s) the filmmakers are surprisingly successful in working the situation for nail-biting suspense. The key decision to center the story on O'Donnell's more ordinary character rather than the larger-than-life Kennedys helps to keep the piece dramatically real despite its epic Camelot backdrop.

This weekend sees Roland Emmerich’s 10,000 BC enter theaters in the same frame that last year saw 300 pull in a $70.9 million weekend. Estimates for BC are that it will hit somewhere between $30 and $40 million.
The prehistoric action movie stars Steven Strait as an early man who shares the planet with woolly mammoths, saber-toothed tigers and a lost civilization that has conducted a raid on his tribe.
If the movie hits over $40 million it would represent a big win for Warner Bros., says Variety. Only three films have opened to more than $40 million in March: 300, Ice Age: The Meltdown and Ice Age; (the latter two also featuring a woolly mammoth).
10,000 BC has very strong Total Awareness of 83%, compared to a nearly-identical 82% for 300 last year, but this year’s entry rated PG-13 compared to 300’s strong R, notes Fantasy Moguls.
Disney, meanwhile, unveils College Road Trip, about a dad (Martin Lawrence) who takes his daughter (Raven-Symone) on a road trip to visit prospective colleges.
Lawrence’s Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins opened last month to $16.2 million. But, says The Hollywood Reporter, it's Raven-Symone who's probably the real draw. A mainstay of successful Disney Channel series like That's So Raven, she'll attract younger girls, who should ensure that the film possibly pushes toward the $20 million neighborhood.
The Bank Job, starring Jason Statham and directed by Roger Donaldson, also opens this weekend with a view to lifting something north of $6 million.
Focus Features’ Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day, will open in limited release as will Sony Pictures Classics’ Married Life and Warner Independent Pictures' Snow Angels.
After four weekends in which the box office couldn't match the comparable weekend in 2007, overall business should see a return to life given the mix of movies in play, notes THR. But without the punch of a 300, the frame probably won't be able to match last year's weekend for sheer heft.

Directed a series of seven short dramas for New Zealand TV entitled "Winners and Losers"

Helmed the murky murder mystery "White Sands"

Helmed "The Bank Job" based on a 1971 true life robbery of a bank in Baker Street, London

First non-Australian film as director, "The Bounty" starring Anthony Hopkins and Mel Gibson

Feature directing and producing debut, "Sleeping Dogs"; first film produced in New Zealand in 15 years

Summary

Having proved himself to be a capable craftsman of several compelling political thrillers, director Roger Donaldson hit a downward spiral in his career after emerging from his native New Zealand as its cinematic savior, only to reestablish himself in the new millennium. With "Sleeping Dogs" (1977), Donaldson singlehandedly put New Zealand on the map as the next filmmaking capital of the world, while also getting himself noticed in Hollywood. He failed to disappoint with his political thriller "No Way Out" (1987), which effectively tapped into the paranoia surrounding the rejuvenated Cold War. But Donaldson's goodwill was in jeopardy after directing the much-maligned "Cocktail" (1988), even though it proved to be one of the most financially successful movies of his career, thanks in large part to star Tom Cruise. After a rough patch that included the likes of "White Sands" (1992), "The Getaway" (1994) and "Dante's Peak" (1997), Donaldson pulled himself out of his career morass with "Thirteen Days" (2000), a taut and suspenseful look at the behind-the-scenes action inside the Kennedy White House during the Cuban Missile Crisis. By the time he helmed the excellent heist thriller "The Bank Job" (2008), Donaldson had reestablished himself as one of cinema's most compelling filmmakers.